About that 'peace dividend' - Waxman wants lead out of plane fuel - Cantor knocks Obama’s ‘imperial’ transportation policies - All about sequestration

WILL OBAMA’S PLAN PAY DIVIDENDS? If you watch the debates, read the campaign literature or see President Barack Obama on the stump, you’ve probably heard the president talk up the idea to “free up some resources, to, for example, put Americans back to work, especially our veterans, rebuilding our roads, our bridges,” as he said on Monday night. But the proposal he is referring to in passing is actually a morass of budgetary judgments that lacks future revenues, leaving the Hill to deem it unserious. In essence, Obama is calling for using money now set aside for overseas conflicts to instead be directed to a transformative infrastructure vision, an effort complicated by the fact that the United States now deficit-finances its wars rather than raising taxes or bond revenues. That’s led to the GOP calling “peace dividend” a budget gimmick, but Rep. Jim Moran said that’s just not true. “I don’t think it’s budget gimmickry. It’s a reallocation of resources,” he told POLITICO. Click through for more or pick up a POLITICO paper today for Burgess’s story: http://politi.co/XbC5w9

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GET THE LEAD OUT: Rep. Henry Waxman, the top House Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, wants the administration to speed up its plans to get the lead out of fuel used by small planes, citing concerns with lead emissions, particularly at airports near populous areas. The FAA, in coordination with the EPA, plans to test and certify an unleaded replacement fuel for general aviation aircraft by 2018. There currently is no replacement for the leaded fuel, known as avgas. But 2018 isn’t soon enough for Waxman, who has penned a letter ( http://1.usa.gov/UyK7jk) to FAA acting head Michael Huerta asking that the agecny accelerate its timetable. Kathryn has the Pro story: http://politico.pro/UyQ5R6

TRADING BLOWS: The United States saw movement Tuesday in addressing what it views as unfair Chinese trade policies for American-made cars. The World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body established a panel to probe the U.S. complaint against China for “profound procedural and substantive deficiencies” in its application of anti-dumping and countervailing tariffs on $3 billion worth of domestic vehicles. The WTO’s dispute board also referred a complaint by the European Union alleging the U.S. failed to comply in removing annual subsidies for Boeing. The U.S. says it has withdrawn subsidies to the aircraft industry, but the E.U. disagrees and wants $12 billion in annual sanctions for what it calls “unprecedented” subsidies. Burgess has more for Pros: http://politico.pro/RyQdLK

BAILOUT BOOKLET: The Obama campaign is echoing familiar themes of rescuing the automotive industry and using the peace dividend to pay for increased infrastructure investment as part of a 20-page booklet called “The New Economic Patriotism: A Plan for Jobs & Middle Class Security,” released Tuesday morning. The mention comes as part of the booklet's “tax plan” piece, saying the president would use half of the money saved by ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for “putting Americans back to work rebuilding roads, bridges, runways." ... Check it out: http://bit.ly/TPBsDu

TOP TSA FIRINGS: Miami International Airport fired the most TSA employees for theft in the country from 2002 through 2011, axing 29 employees during that period, according to an ABC News report out Tuesday. New York’s JFK (27 firings), Los Angeles International (24), Atlanta (17) and Las Vegas (15) round out the five airports with the most theft-related TSA firings, provided to the network through a Freedom of Information request; the TSA said the numbers represent “less than one-half of one percent of officers that have been employed.” The statistics do not reflect firings for theft in 2012, like in the Orlando “sting” story ABC did in which an iPad was found stolen by a TSA officer. http://abcn.ws/Ux0exD

IMPERIAL TRANSPO: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor put out a report Tuesday, “The Imperial Presidency,” that hits Barack Obama on a few transpo issues, among many others. On the CAFE rules: “Under this administration’s rules, NHTSA is a decidedly junior partner despite being the only one with any expertise on fuel economy standards.” It also targets TSA on two issues: The decision to deny airports that sought to privatize their security program, which was later overturned in the new FAA law, and its handling of a program to expedite security screenings for military personnel. Read it: http://1.usa.gov/TdsJyG

SEQUEST TO THE TEST: AIA president and former FAA administrator Marion Blakey used Monday’s debate to call for renewed sequestration negotiations between the White House and Congress. “I take the president at his word,” she said Tuesday about President Obama’s comment that the sequester cuts would not happen. “The discussion going on indicates the momentum is moving toward a resolution,” she said. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney insisted Tuesday that the White House’s policy has not changed. “What the president said last night was a reiteration of what his position has long been,” he told reporters.

Principled Principato: ACI-NA prez Greg Principato writes that sequestration’s pain would be felt for decades afterward. “If sequestration hits NextGen, the result will be a negative chain reaction with far-reaching implications,” he wrote Monday ( http://aol.it/WGI2T8).

DRIVERLESS IN D.C.: The D.C. council held a public hearing yesterday on the burgeoning movement to begin laying the groundwork for self-driven aka “autonomous” automobiles. MT found it interesting that the bill the council is considering would require the vehicles to use alternative fuels, exempt them from the gas tax and implement a vehicles miles traveled fee. “The proposed VMT rate is $.01875 per mile traveled, which is equivalent to what a 44 mile per gallon (MPG) vehicle would pay in motor fuels taxes to travel a mile,” wrote CFO Natwar Gandhi in an analysis. http://bit.ly/RSDnrn

Coming soon? The Washington Examiner’s @lizessley tweets: “I'm at @marycheh's hearing on driverless cars. She says they'll be ready for sale in DC in less than five years.”

CHSRA POACHES FROM AMTRAK: Frank Vacca will be the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s new chief program manager, CHSRA announced today. Vacca, who has been Amtrak’s chief engineer since 2006 and has 35 years of experience in the passenger rail industry, will lead the agency’s technical and engineering teams as they work on the state’s high-speed rail line, which is slated to break ground in 2013.

MT POLL — Which T&I-er will lose? Last week our team brought you the nine T&I races you need to watch this November. Now we’re taking it to the streets (and sidewalks). What current committee member won’t be back next year? Pros can do their homework by reading our story ( http://politico.pro/Tdbi2V), but voting is open to all. You can only pick one or suggest a wild card we didn’t list. Just do so before Sunday at noon: http://bit.ly/PfNFps

ELECTRIC BLURB: Two two big electric car players in the United States have some mixed news this week. The 2013 model year of the Chevy Volt has a software glitch than can temporarily shut down the engine but is a relatively easy dealer fix, Reuters reports ( http://trib.in/QRTh47). And the Financial Times bring us news that the underselling Nissan Leaf will soon get a new, cheaper model ( http://on.ft.com/QSO6kt).

THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ)

-- We’ve heard it all before, but “auto bailout” was the most popular Google search during the debate. The Hill: http://bit.ly/S1aNY2

- The U.S. isn’t the only country that’s had to bail out its auto industry — France is set to help Peugeot. Reuters: http://reut.rs/WGKglv

- A D.C. speed camera on New York Ave. has over 116,000 tickets worth $11.6 million. WaPo: http://wapo.st/TSNCf9

POLITICO INFLUENCE THEFT — Japan automakers staff up: The Japan Auto Manufacturers Association's Washington office has hired the Herald Group's Matthew Well to lobby on its behalf. The former aide to ex-Sen. Bob Dole will lobby on regulatory and legislative issues affecting Japanese vehicle manufacturers in the U.S., according to a Senate filing.

AN ECONOMICAL APPROACH: The Economist’s Gulliver travel blog looks at Amtrak’s food service loss and T&I Chairman John Mica’s focus on the issue. Their takeaway: “In a world where members of Congress actually cared about making Amtrak more viable, they would be focusing on pushing the company to scrap or drastically alter its long-haul services, and not suggesting that serving food to people is the heart of the problem.” http://econ.st/TdqJGz

THE COUNTDOWN: DOT funding runs out in 155 days, passenger rail policy in 342 days, surface transportation policy in 710 days and FAA policy in 1,072 days. There are 13 days before the general election, and the 113th Congress convenes in 74 days.

BIKE BREAKDOWN: The League of American Bicyclists sums up the good news and bad news based on new FHWA guidance on the Transportation Alternative (formerly Transportation Enhancements) program. http://bit.ly/TdoSBH

#LONGREADS: The Loudoun County government put up the joint MWAA, Loudoun, Fairfax request for TIFIA credit assistance from DOT. Read it: http://1.usa.gov/RTNDPR

REBUTTAL REBUTTAL: Maybe we should sponsor a debate. The candidates aren’t talking much about transpo, but our readers sure are. Reason spokesman Chris Mitchell wrote in response to criticisms from Professional Engineers in California Government prez Steve Lee, who said the group’s recent poll ( http://bit.ly/Rd6kiu) “relied on slanted questions.” Mitchell: “People were given two straightforward choices: if new highways are built would you prefer that they be paid for with new tolls or tax increases?” He said Reason is “all ears” for ways to free up the needed funds, but notes that it might be “unwise to ignore the fact that the public favors paying for infrastructure by paying tolls when they drive on new roads over paying for new roads with tax increases.”

CABOOSE — Looney for Muni: The Bay Citizen has a fun, well-produced video called “A Tale of Two Munis” about driving and riding the 38 Bus in San Francisco. To MT, the video’s value might be in simply showing people who don’t regularly ride city buses what the experience is really like. The driver featured in the video uses the word “professional” multiple times, says his main focus is safety and that “whoever makes the schedule hasn’t been out there.” The rider meanwhile uses a favorite transportation bashing word, boondoggle, to bash the transit agency and says one should just throw the schedule out the window when riding Muni. We also are a bit jealous to see those rear-boarding doors, a feature our transit system lacks. Watch it: http://bit.ly/T8Bl4Z

** A message from the Coalition for Future Mobility: Driving Safety: Human error. It’s a factor in 94% of all crashes according to government data. So imagine how much safer our roads would be with Autonomous Vehicles. By reducing risky and dangerous driving behaviors, AVs will help save lives. Tell Congress to greenlight Autonomous Vehicle testing and deployment.http://bit.ly/gl-sd **

About The Author

John Burgess Everett is a congressional reporter for POLITICO. He previously was a transportation reporter for POLITICO Pro, Web producer, helping run POLITICO’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, and a contributor to the On Media blog.

About The Author

Adam Snider is a transportation reporter for POLITICO Pro and author of Morning Transportation. He has covered transportation since 2007, joining POLITICO in 2011 to launch MT and later found the word “Mica-ism.”

Snider is a fan of all modes of transportation, though nothing beats a good silly walk. In his spare time, he can be found brewing a hoppy beer, rooting for the Nationals, watching a bad 1970s horror movie or exploring the District from his home base in Mount Pleasant.

Adam studied English and communications at Clemson University in South Carolina. His work has been featured by Nieman Journalism Lab and his snark has appeared on MSNBC. He has had several works of fiction published in literary journals and is constantly reminded of his proclamation to a fiction professor many years ago that journalism is for sellouts who abandon their creative dreams.